Fancy Footwork (2017)

Ready to be a better athlete for your canine partner? Want to be quicker, faster and more agile? Are you ready to improve your foot speed, balance through turns and spins, and reduce wear and tear on your legs and joints? If you said yes to any or all of these then this is the course for you!

Category: Health/NutritionLevel: Open to allClass Length: 5 weeks (information/classroom available in read-only mode for 6 months after completion of course)

Course Description

Fancy Footwork (2017) :: Diane Goodspeed & Walter Santos

Ready to be a better athlete for your canine partner? Want to be quicker, faster and more agile? Are you ready to improve your foot speed, balance through turns and spins, and reduce wear and tear on your legs and joints? If you said yes to any or all of these then this is the course for you!

Ladder drills are the first step in working faster turns, controlled acceleration, and balanced deceleration. Dedicate just 15-minutes, 2 times a week to do these simple exercises that are guaranteed to improve your agility, balance and leg strength. This online class brings a fabulous fitness trainer to you! No need to drive to the gym, pay for an expensive membership that you don’t have time to use, or exhaust yourself doing exercises that may or may not benefit you when you run an agility course with your dog. You won’t need any expensive equipment and the drills can be tailored to the space you have available, inside or outside! All the participants are working and can post their workout results and/or video each week. There will also be weekly incentives for great posters and class motivators!

There are two athletes on course – you and your dog. And, let’s face it, we spend most of our time and resources training, conditioning and pampering our dogs! It’s time for you to work on you! This course offers the on-line agility community with a very unique opportunity. Walter Santos has created a 5-week course that specifically addresses the human component of the agility team. Diane has worked with Walter for over six years on her own fitness and conditioning and has seen tremendous benefits in her speed and agility. During that time, Walter has watched countless hours of agility video, modified his drills for football, basketball and soccer athletes to match our agility moves, and has conducted several fitness seminars for agility students, including the very popular AU Fitness Challenge! With this course, he’ll focus on several areas:

* Basic warm-up and cool down for agility athletes

* Ladder work for foot speed and balance

* Core conditioning for improved balance

Each week Walter will provide two short training sessions, approximately 10-15 minutes each, of low impact, low stress ladder exercises and a new core/balance exercise. In each video, Diane will clearly demonstrate the exercises and will provide a basic instruction guide that you can print for reference during your workout. With great instruction, you will easily learn the exercises and can then do the sessions on your own time at your own pace whether that’s a walk or a speed drill! Fitness Challengers take note! Ladder drills are easily added to the Superman, Plank, Body Builder or Chair Challenges for a more complete workout for agility competitors.

Course Structure, Requirements & Equipment

Categories:

Health & Nutrition

Level:

Open to All

Course Length:

5 weeks (information/classroom available in read-only mode for 6 months after completion of course)

Course Structure:

This is a 5-week course that will introduce agility competitors to the benefits of agility ladder work for improved speed, quickness and balance. Each week Walter will provide participants with two short workouts. Each session will be between 10-15 minutes from warm-up to cool-down! Walter will cover approximately 15 different drills through the course. Each ladder drill will be described in detail and shown in both full and slow motion. Every participant can progress at his or her own pace through the ladder drills. Each session will also include a new exercise to improve core strength for better balance. In addition, Walter will explain his short, easy warm-up and cool-down routines for agility competitors. All of these exercises are safe, easy and fun! While each one is a workout, you won’t be exhausted and sore! The intent is to build on your capabilities and improve at your pace. All the participants will be “working” students. Video posting is not required but encouraged! Walter will be looking for students to simply post their workout results, which can be as simple as “Done!” or a complete workout write-up with notes on successes or problem areas. There will also be weekly incentives for those students who post the most, make the most progress, and really participate in motivating the group!

Equipment needed:

(working participants only): Flat 10-12 rung agility ladder which can be purchased or laid out in any appropriate sized space using colored electrical tape. For an example flat rung ladder that can be purchased, check out this product on Amazon.

Space needed:

10 ft by 10 ft or less! An agility ladder can be placed in almost any wide hallway, basement, garage, patio or yard! If your space is limited, you can use an 8-rung ladder vs a 12-rung ladder with the same great success!

Office Hours:

Walter will be available on/off all week throughout the 5-weeks.

Course Participation & Tuition Levels

Type of participation:

Participant (can view and read all videos/assignments/posts from instructor and working students, will get instructor answers to course-specific questions posted, can actively participate in class forum, chat and office hours) Limit: unlimited